Thread winding mechanism



Feb. 19, 1935.

H. s. DRUM E! AL THREAD WINDING MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 20, 1932 5Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 19, 1935. H, s. DRUM El AL 1,992,026

THREAD WINDING MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 20, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR Feb. 19, 1935.

H. s. DRUM ET AL 1,992,026

THREAD WINDING MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 20, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR;

ATTORNEY Feb. 19, 1935. 5 DRUM E V 1,992,026

THREAD WINDING MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 20, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR Feb. 19,1935. HSDRUM L 1,992,026

THREAD WINDING MECHANISM Original Filed Oct. 20, 1932 5 Shefs-Sheet 5INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 19, 1935 PATENT OFFICE THREAD WINDINGMECHANISM Harry 8. Drum, Ablngton, and William C. Dodson, Jenkintown,Pa., assignors to Smith, Drum and Company, Philadelphia, Pa... acorporation of Pennsylvania Application aciaim The present inventionrelates to thread wind ing machines and more particularly to animprovement in winding mechanism and control therefor.

In devices for winding thread from skeinsonto spools it has heretoforebeen the quite general practice to transmit the required rotary motionfrom the driving mechanism to the winding spool by a direct drive to thehubs of such spools and in consequence while the driving speed remainsconstant, the build-up of the thread upon the spool produces a varyingperipheral spool speed. This change of peripheral speed is veryundesirable because, production is lowered by reason of the necand thespool package is-not wound uniformly.

In some instances also attempts have been made to overcome the illeffects of varying peripheral speed by driving the spool throughfriction applied directly to the periphery of the yarn upon the spoolbut such attempts have been impractical where rayon or other delicateyarns are wound on account of damage resulting from yarn tangles in theskein, or from any other cause which would prevent the yarn from freelyfeeding from the skein to the spool. The problem therefore which hashitherto remained unsolved is to provide a thread winder which placesthe yarn upon a spool at a constant speed regardless of the diameter of.the thread mass and to, so deliver the power to the spool that failureof theskein to feed fromthe reel will have no injurious effect upon theyarn, and yarn breakage will bereducedto a minimum. i

Some of the objects of the present invention are to provide an improvedmechanism for winding yarn upon spools; to provide a winding devicewherein the peripheral speed of the yarn mass ing or wearing effects ofslipping action; to pro-' vide an automatic release for thedriving'means of a winding spool so arranged and constructed that uponan excessive increase in the tension upon the thread being wound, thedriving means will cease to operate the winding spool; to pro- October20, 1932, Serial No. 638,682 Renewed July 13, 1934 vide means forrotating a winding spool by employing a plurality of power transmittingmeans, one of which is automatically releasable by increase of threadtension beyond a certain maximum; to providemeans for arresting thewinding of a thread upon a spool when the spool is fully wound or whenthe thread breaks; to provide means for automatically removing a spoolbeing wound from the driving means in case the thread being drawn fromthe reel should break duringthe winding operation; to provide meanswhereby a completely wound spool is automatically defied; and to provideother improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. l represents a front elevation in partsection of a thread winding mechanism embodying one form of the presentinvention; Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same; Fig. 8represents a detail in plan of the bracket construction; Fig. 4represents an end elevation of a winding machine equipped with thedevice of the present invention; Fig. 5 represents a front elevation inpart section of a modified form of the invention; Fig. 6 represents aside elevation of amodifled form of the invention showing an automaticdofllng construction; Figure 7 represents aside elevation of anotherform of the invention whereinthe spool being wound is automaticallyremoved from the winding means when the thread breaks during the windingoperation, and Fig. 8 represents a side elevation of a furthermodification of the invention.

Referring to the drawings one form of the present invention is shownassembled with a winding machine of the type arranged to simultaneouslyrotate a plurality of winding spools 10 through the medium of drivingwheels 11 mounted upon a common power operated shaft 12.. The skeins ofyarn 13 are respectively carried by reels 14 and from which each threadis led to its particular spool 10 to be wound thereon after passingthrough guides 15 of a traverse bar 16 which is reciprocated by suitablemechanism in the desired manner to lay the thread properly upon thespools. Sincethe respective winding parts are the same for all of thespools the present description will be confined to one spool unit andlike reference numerals will be applied to like parts in the otherunits. I r

In the preferred form. of the invention the spool 10 is mounted forrotation with a spindle 17 which is journalled at its ends in bearingslots 18 formed respectively in brackets 20v which are bolted orotherwise made fast. to a fixed part of contact, or in other words thisconstruction makes the machine in such position and relation as tosupport the spool 10 as required. As here shown each bracket 20 has twobearing slots 18, one at each side so that the ends of two adjacentspindles 1'7 utilize the same bracket, thus promoting compactness,efficiency and economy. Preferably the slots 18 of each bracket 20 arespaced by a web' or partition 21 in order to prevent the interference ofone spindle with its neighbor.

Also it is preferred to form each bracket with two bearing guideways 22arranged back to back for receiving and locating bearing blocks 23 whichare arranged to ride freely in the guideways 22 in a predeterminedmanner and for a purpose presently to be described. In connection withthe brackets 20 it should be noted that a socket recess 19 is providedadjacent to each of the slots 18 in order to provide seats for therespective ends of the spool spindle 1'7 and in which the spindle issupported when the spool is removed for any reason. This takes care ofthe ordinary doffing of the spool by hand after it is wound.

Asa means for causing the spool 10 to rotate to wind the yarn thereonand to do this with a'constant peripheral speed, a driven member 24,such for example as a roller or cylindrical drum, is mounted so as to bein peripheral contact with the periphery of the spool 10 or the threadmass 25 thereon. As here shown the member 24 consists of a cylindricaltubular body having end heads 26 and 27 fastened therein in any suitableway and both supported by a driven shaft 28 for free relative turningmovement. The head 26 has an end recess 30 concentric with the shaft 28for seating one end of a driven hub 31 which transmits motion to theshaft 28 by a pin 32 or equivalent means. In addition to driving theshaft 28, the hub 31 acts as an abutment with which the head 26 hasfriction contact for driving purposes. The head 27 is likewise providedwith a recess 33 on its outer face concentric with the shaft 28 andreceives therein a collar 34 which serves as the movable element of aclutch which drives the head 27 by frictional contact therewith. Theouter face of the collar 34 is suitably apertured to receive and seatthe respective plungers 35 which are arranged to slide respectively inbores 36 of a driven bushing 3'7. Coil springs 38 are located in therespective bores 36 and press the plungers 35 against the collar 34 witha pressure determined by the adjustment of the screws 40 which arethreaded into the bores 36 but are accessible from the exposed end ofthebushing 3'7. The motion of the shaft 28 is transmitted to the bushing 37by a pin 41 or any other equivalent means. The ends of the shaft 28' arereceived and supported respectively in the bearing' blocks as will beunderstood. The hub 31 and the bushing 3'7 ride respectively upon therespective driving wheels 11 and receive motion by frictional contacttherewith.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the spool 10 rests by gravityupon the drum or roller 24 and is therefore driven by friction appliedperpendicularly to the axis of the spool, while the drum 24 in turn isdriven by friction applied parallel to the axis of the spool and thislatter friction is arranged .for adjustment and is so set as to releasethe drum 24 under a lower braking effort applied to the spool 10 thanwill cause slipping of the drum 24 upon the thread mass. This isimportant in that it is impossible with this construction for drum 24 tomove relative to spool 10 so as to damage' thread by rubbing or chafingit impossible for drum 24 to rotate to any appreciable degree when incontact with spool 10 when and if spool 10 for any reason'ceases torotate.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 the driving member 24 aswell as the hub 31 and bushing 37 are mounted directly upon a drivingshaft 42 which takes the place of the shaft 12 with its attached drivingwheels 11. Pins 43 and 44 respectively fasten the hub 31 and bushing 3'7to the shaft 42 for direct drive and the motion of the parts istransmitted by friction pressure to the driven member 24 which in turnoperates upon the periphery of the spool 10 or the thread mass 25. This.construction may be advantageously employed where the present inventionis assembled in a complete winding machine and it dispenses with anumber of unnecessary parts which are now incorporated in windingmachines. Thus while the invention is adapted for ready assembly withthe present day winding machines having a driving shaft 12 and drivingwheels 11, it can equally well be employed and operated directly fromthe driving shaft 42. In this form of the invention the brackets 20 aresimilar to those shown in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 except theguideways 22 need not be provided since the spindles 28 are eliminated.y

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 6,

one form of automatic dofling means is shown as used in connection withthe winding mechanism of Fig. 1 and from which it will be seen that thebracket supporting means for the ends of the spool spindles 1'7 ismodified and comprises spaced arms having a substantially verticallydisposed slot 51 in each, which slot is-open at the. top to permit thefree insertion of the ends of the spindle 17, while providing a slotlength sufficient to bring the empty spool into contact with the drivenroller 24. Those parts in Fig. 6 which are also on Fig. 1 are identifiedrespectively by the same reference numerals. It will also be understoodthat there are two arms for each spool provided with the novel dofilngmeanshere to be described, but one of which is shown in connection withthe associated parts'for purposes of illustration.- The arm 50 ispivoted on a rod 52 preferably extending lengthwise of the machine andsupported at suitable intervals in lugs 53 here shown as integral withthe bracket body 20. This lug 53 is provided with a side rib 54 designedand arranged to be in the path of movement of' a stop-pin 55 secured toa projection 56 of the arm 50. By this construction the arm 50 can swingcounter-clockwise as shown in Fig. 6 until the pin 55 meets the rib 54where it will hold the arm '50 in its new position which is so removedfrom the winding mechanism as to insure the spool and its mass being outof contact with the driven roller 24 under'all conditions. In thisconnection it should benoted that the longitudinal axis of the-slot 51is slightly to the winding drum side of the pivot 52 so that the weightof the spool and its associated parts will be toward the drum andproperly hold the spool in frictional engagement with the face thereof.For the purpose of maintaining this position of the arm 50 during thewinding operation a latch 5'7 is pivoted at 58 to the bracket frame 20and is arranged to coact with and lit about a pin 60 projecting from theinner-side of the arm 50 so that under normal operation the arm 50 cannot swing outwardly away from the winding means. This lo cation of thelatch .57 brings it into the upward path of movement of the spindle 17so that when the thread mass reaches a predetermined diameter the spoolwill have travelled upwardly to a point where the spindle 17 engages theface 61 of the latch 57 and causes it to be lifted and released from thepin 60. -When this occurs the continued pressure of the winding roller24 against the face of the wound yarn upon the spool will force thelatter in a direction away from the drum so that the center of gravityof the spool quickly passes across the vertical plane of the pivot ,52and consequently the arm 50 drops to the left as seen in Fig.- 6 tothereby affect an automatic dofiing thereof. .A stop-pin 62 is fastenedto the frame 20 so thatthe latch 57 rests thereon'in such a positionthat its tapered nose 63 is in the path of the pin 60 so that it will bepositively picked up thereby when the arm 50 is manually turned back towinding position with spool after it is completely wound and .thearrangement of the parts is such that this takes place in apositiveandsure manner. Thus assuming an empty spool to be in position for windingthe periphery of that spool rests against the face of the winding drum24 while the ends of the spindle I? ride in the provided slots M. Thearms 50 in which the slots 51 are located are held against movement awayfrom the winding drum 24 by the latch or latches 57 having engaged theholding pins 60 which project inwardly from the arms 50. As the threadmass increases in diameter the spindle 17 rides upwardly in the slot 51but still maintains the periphery of the thread mass in contact with thedrum 24 and this continues until the aforesaid spindle 17 lifts thelatches 57 away from the pins 60 whereupon the arms 50 are free to swingabout the pivot rod 52 and do so swing under the pressure from thewinding drum. Hence the wound spool takes a dofiing positionautomatically and such position is determined by the engagement of thestops 55 with the ribs 54 of the bracket 20. I

In the form ,of the invention shown in Fig. 7 the spindle 17 of thespool to be wound rides in slot 65 of rock-arm 66 whichis pivoted to arod 67 supported by a side frame bracket 68. While' but one arm 66 isshown and described here, it will be understood that the opposite end ofthe spool is supported by duplicate parts. The upper end of therock-arm66 is provided with a pin 70 which serves to cooperate with a bell crank71 having a latch 72' formed thereon, which latch not only engages thepin 70 but also extends across the upper end of the slot 65 so that itis in the path of the spindle 17. The bell crank 71 is pivoted at '73 tothe bracket frame 68 and the opposite end 74 of the bell crankterminates in a slot 75 and pin 76 inconnection with a link 77 whichjoins an arm 78 by means of a pivotal connection 80. The arm 78is'preferably a part of a bell crank pivoted at 81 and having a shortarm in the form of a weight 82 Thisconstruction insures the bell crank71 swinging to a position to unlatch the pin 70 when the weight 82 isreleased to fall by its weight. The dropping of the weight 82 actsthrough the link 77 and bell crank 74 to release the latch 72 from thepin 70 and therefore the repelling action of the driving wheel 92against the thread mass causes the arm 66 to swing outwardly to removethe thread mass from contact with the wheel 92. Normally the weight 82is held in non-operative position as shown in Fig. 7 by means of amovable abutment stop 83, which is fixed to a hub 84 rotatably mountedupon a pin 85 of the frame 68. .This hub 84 is provided with a boss 86in the form of a clamping socket for holding a control arm 87 whichterminates in a thread guide 88. A stop-pin 90 is fast to the frame 68in the path of the arm 78 so that the latter will have a limit to itsswinging movement when releasing the pin '10. Also a stop-pin 91 is fastto the frame 68 in a position to be in the path of the abutment 83 andthus limit the travelof the guide 88 during its control movement. Inthis form of the invention the thread mass is shown as being driven byfrictional contact from a wheel 92 fast to the driving shaft 93. Theoperation of this form of the invention depends upon the direction offeed of the thread 94 only as a control means for bringing about adiscontinuance of the winding operation, and the removal of the spoolfrom the driving reel. I'hus in case the yarn about the reel becomestangled or for some other,reason ceases to feed freely therefrom, thetangled 'end thereof will follow the unwinding movement of the reel forabout a quarter turn and thus change the position ofthe thread'to thatshown in dotted lines at 95, hence the weight of the control arm 87allows this latter to drop and remove the abutment 83 from the path ofthe weight controlled arm 78. The weight 82 then rotates the arm 78until it strikes ,the stop 90 and this motion is transmitted by way oflink 77 and bell cranks '74 and 71 to the latch 72 which swingsclockwise, to release the rock arms 66. The pull of the thread or yarntherefore acts at once to swing the spool supporting the arm 66 awayfrom the driving wheels 92 and this not 1 only stops the windingoperation, but removes the thread mass from the driving wheels 92 sothat the thread is not subject to chafing or wear. The same action takesplace if the thread breaks because this allows the control arm 87 todrop by its own weight'to thus release the arm 78 to the action of theweight 82.

In theform of the invention shown in Fig. 8 a modified form of bracketis provided having laterally disposed ribs 101 forming a slot 102 toreceive and guide the spindle 17 upon which the spool 10 is mounted. Thespool 10 is rotated by a drivenwheel or roller 103 by frictionalengagement with the thread mass on the spool, and the wheel 103 ispreferably frictionally" driven by the driving wheel 11. 1

For the purpose of stopping the driven wheel 103 under certainconditions, a brake block 104 is carried by an arm 105 which, as hereshown, is one arm of a three arm bell crank pivoted upon a pin 106 ina'lug 107 of the bracket 100. The otherarms 108 and 109 of the bellcrank respectively carry a weight 1 10 and an extension 111 whereby thebrake 104 is rendered operative and released for operation. Normally theextension 111 is latched in the position shown by a pin 112 and latchbar 113 to hold the brake 104 ineffective, and the latch bar 113 ispivoted at 114 to extend across the upward path of movement of thespindle 17. The arrangement is such that when the thread mass on thespool reaches the diameter of a full wound spool, the spindle 17 willthen engage the latch bar 113 and cause it to be lifted to unlatch thepin 112 so that the weight arm 108' becomes effective to swing theactuated in case-the winding thread breaks, a

trip lever 115 is pivoted on an ear 116 by means of a pin 11'? and has alug 118 arranged to travel in a plane to intercept the latch bar 113 andcause its release from the pin 112 when the lever 115 drops by its ownweight from its normal elevated position. A lug 119 projects from thetrip lever 115 and rests upon the taut thread to maintain the lever inthis elevated position. In case the thread 120 breaks the trip lever 115is released and swings down to bring the, lug 118 against the latch bar113, lifting the latter and allowing the weight 110 to swing the brake104 into action to stop the winding operation.

By the device of the present invention a marked increase in theproduction of wound spools is possible because it will be quite evidentthat the speed of winding is materially increased through transmittingthe driving motion directly to the periphery of the thread mass. In allformer machines wherein the drive takes place through the hubs of thespool the initial speed of the machine must be comparatively low inorder that the final speed may not be excessive. In other words by theold method of winding the peripheral speed of the spool graduallyincreases to a maximum when the winding is complete and therefore theinitial speed of an unwound spool must be such that the accelerationduring winding will not give a final speed beyond the limit of threadstrength. By the present invention the peripheral speed is constant and.the machine can accordingly be initially driven at the highest maximumspeed and which speed is the constant winding speed. Also since thetraverse bar reciprocates at the same speed as in former machines whilethe spool itself is rotating much faster, there is a very much betterwinding result in that the threads are placed closely together and moreyarn can be placed upon a spool.

While in the foregoing the term thread is used in describing the windingmechanism, it is to be understood that such use is in a broad sense andcomprehends any material capable of being wound by the device of theinvention. Also it should be noted that reference ,to skeins of yarn isonly by way of example as, of course, the invention is applicable towinding from spools, reels, or any other package form of material.

It will now be apparent that a complete unitary winding mechanism hasbeen devised capable of use with the finest of threads, such as silk andrayons, without damage thereto by reason of tangled threads or otherobstruction to the normal free feeding of such threads. Furthermore thedevice of the present invention is sensitive to and responsive to afailure of the yarn or thread to feed freely from the skein or package;to the thread mass when the latter reaches a predetermined diameter; andtothe breakage the thread.

a spool to wind a thread thereon, a driving means cooperating with thethread mass for rotating said spool, arms pivotally mounted and havingslots therein for respectively guiding the ends of said spindle, andmeans located in the path of movement of said spindle for holding saidspool in winding position, said holding means being arranged to bereleased by the movement of said spindle caused by the increase indiameter of the thread mass, whereby said spool is automatically dofied.

2. In a thread winding mechanism of the traverse bar controlled type, aspindle for mounting a spool to wind a thread thereon, a driving meanscooperating with the thread mass for rotating said spool, pivotallymounted arms for journalling said spindle means arranged to engage saidarms to maintain said spool or thread mass thereon in operative relationto said driving means, and means automatically operated at apredetermined diameter of said thread mass, by a failure of the threadto feed, and by thread breakage for releasing said engaging means tocause said arms to doff the wound spool- 3. In a thread windingmechanism of the traverse bar controlled type, a spool, means includinga pair of movable arms for mounting said spool, a driving meanscooperating to wind a thread on said spool, means normally locking saidarms to maintain an operative relation between said spool and saiddriving means, and means actuated only by a change in the direction ofthe thread being wound to release said locking means whereby said armsremove said spoolfrom operative relation with said driving means.

4. In a thread winding mechanism, a drivingmeans, a spool, arms formounting said spool for frictional driving contact with said drivingmeans, said arms being pivoted to swing said spool toward and away fromsaid driving means, means normally .tending to swing said arms to removesaid spool from contact with said driving means, means for holding saidspool in contact with said driving means in opposition to said removingaction, and means respectively responsive to thread breakage, or to achange of direction of thread feed, or to a predetermined spool mass forreleasing said holding means, whereby said spool is automaticallyremoved from said driving means.

5. In a thread winding mechanism a driving means, a spool, a spindle formounting said spool, arms provided respectively with slots at one end toreceive and guide said spindle and pivotally mounted at the other end toswing said spool into driving means, and means located in the path oftravel of said spindle for holding said spool from movement by saidswinging means and releasable by the movement of said spindle when apredetermined spool mass diameter is wound.

6. In a thread winding mechanism, a driving means, a spool, a spindlefor mounting said-spool, arms provided respectively with slots at oneend to receive and guide said spindle and pivotally mounted at the otherend to swing said spool into and out of contact with said driving means,the constructionand arrangement being such that said spindle travelsoutwardly of said slots in accordance with the increase of thread masson said spool, means normally tending to swing saidarms to remove saidspool from contact with said driving means, means located in the path oftravel of said spindle for holding said spool from movement by saidswinging means and releasable by the movement of said spindle when apredetermined spool mass diameter is wound, and auxiliary meanscontrolled by the breaking of a thread for causing said holding means tobe released.

7. In a thread winding mechanism, a driving means, a spool, a spindlefor mounting said spool, arms provided respectively with slots at oneend to receive and guide said spindle and pivotally mounted at the otherend to swing said spool into and out of contact with said driving means,the construction and arrangement being such that said spindle travelsoutwardly of said slots in accordance with the increase of thread masson said spool, means normally tending to swing said arms to remove saidspool from contact with said driving means, means located in the path oftravel of said spindle for holding said spool from movement by saidswinging means and releasable by the movement of said spindle when apredetermined spool mass diameter is wound, and auxiliary meanscontrolled by a change of direction of thread feed due to a tangle foralso causing said holding means to be released.

8. In a thread winding mechanism of the traverse bar controlled type, aspindle for mounting a spool to wind a thread thereon, a driving meanscooperating with the thread mass for rotating said spool, pivotallymounted arms for journalling said spindle, means arranged to engage saidarms to maintain said spool or thread mass thereon in operative relationto said driving means, and means automatically operated by a failure ofthe thread to feed and by thread breakage for releasing said engagingmeans to cause said arms to dofi the wound spool.

HARRY S. DRUM. WILLIAM C. DODSON.

